Thicker Than Water
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Oneshot. In which Allistor Kirkland discovers the only thing worse than having a little brother around is losing him. UK Family, with Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and Britannia. Fluff.


Disclaimer: Do not own Hetalia.

It feels like a while since I've written a story for this site. XD So, this is just a slice of brotherly fluff (NO shipping, I don't ship people who are related). Scotland, Ireland and Wales are technically fanon characters, so I've taken liberties with their names and ages. Allistor is the oldest and about eleven, Arthur is around six, Seamus is inbetween the two in age and Wales is their baby sister. I couldn't settle on a name for Wales- I usually call her 'Mari', but I thought it might confuse people since Wales if often portrayed as a boy, but I think of her as a girl and I won't change my mind on the matter unless Himuraya says otherwise. I chose Alexandria for Brittania, I feel like she suits a regal-sounding name.

Enjoy!

* * *

"We're almost there, could you please stop the arguing for five minutes?"

Arthur Kirkland sighed to himself, the motion making the spiky blonde hair that fell over his eyes fluttering with the motion, face peering out of the window as the motorway blurred past. Shopping trips with his family always seemed to take forever, and that was just the car journey! He was sitting in the back with his brothers, who were getting equally as restless as he was, though things had not broken out into a proper fight yet.

The mall loomed into view, the many glass panes giving the whole building a bright shimmering look, even when the sunlight was weak. As it was, it looked like some kind of Palace of Shopping. Their mother smiled, pushing tawny hair off of her face as she chivvied her children out of the car and towards the building. Her youngest complied gratefully, but Allistor grunted in irritation, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets as his brother chattered noisily around him as Alexandria got their little sister out of the car, humming slightly to herself. She was just happy she had finally gotten to the place of destination without her sons murdering each other in the backseat. Allistor wished that he was old enough to drive, even though he knew that was a few years away yet- it just wasn't dignified for him to be riding in the back with his kid brothers.

As they entered the mall, each with varying expressions of interested at all the different stores, Arthur suddenly noticed something rather cool. Situated about a few feet from the entrance was an archway leading towards the long strip of stores, and the two columns forming the archway also doubled as a fish tank. Colorful lights at the bottom changed color, going from green, blue, purple, pink, red, and back again. Colorful fish darted between plants, scales illuminated by the soft glow of the lights.

"Fish!" Arthur gasped, enraptured, turning his head as the family passed it, mouth hanging open slightly. A large, yellowish angelfish hovered about level with his face.

"Hi there, fish!" Arthur chuckled, planting a palm against the glass and leaning in close, the reflection of his eyes huge in the water. "Hi!"

"Arthur, don't fall behind, love!" called his mother.

Arthur gave the fish a last, longing look before hurrying after them.

"I saw some fish!" he announced, excitably.

Nobody responded, and since Alexandria was busy fussing over the baby, now that she was satisfied all her children were safely with her, Arthur glanced at Allistor, who had his hands in his pockets and a moody look on his face. He wasn't exactly thrilled about going shopping with his mum, little brothers and sister; after all, it just didn't look very cool.

"Allistor, did you see the fish?" Arthur asked, pulling on his sibling's shirt.

Wrenching himself free from his brother's grip, the redheaded boy snorted, not even glancing down at Arthur.

"Stop pulling at me." He snapped, ignoring Arthur's crestfallen expression.

Arthur was always doing it, tagging around after him and reporting stupid, inane things to him. Seamus had done the same thing at Arthur's age and it drove Allistor mad. He was at the age where he craved independence but had not fully attained it, and so he was apt to take it out on anybody that provoked him. (Well, aside from his sister, obviously.)

"Seamus! Seamus, look back there, fish!"

"Mm? Yeah, whatever." Seamus said, busy staring at a shop across from them that had an enormous chocolate fountain in the window, and as such his whole attention was focused on it.

Arthur sighed, stealing a longing glance at the tank before they rounded a corner and it vanished, out of sight but not quite out of mind.

Much to the relief from the boys, they eventually stopped clothes shopping to have a bite to eat. Alexandria picked a café that had seats out on the mall floor, her kids tended to get restless if they felt boxed into one space, so somewhere they could eat in a wide-open area was preferable. She allowed her boys to pick their own snack and drink, to save hours on arguing and trying to convince them into drinking something healthy, as opposed to the fizzy stuff they insisted on guzzling, which only made them hyper.

Speaking of hyper...

"'Ey, ey, watch this!" Seamus giggled, shaking up his drink while his mother wasn't looking.

"Seamus, god." Allistor groaned, rolling his eyes.

A moment later, Seamus' laughing turned into a shriek of dismay as the bottle fizzed over, sticky liquid spraying him and soaking him through in the impressive span of about four seconds. Even his hair was slightly wet. Arthur burst into a fit of giggles at Seamus' dumbfounded expression at what had just happened. He was going through a clumsy phase, so this kind of thing tended to happen whenever he got the slightest bit excited.

"Oh, _Seamus_!"

Alexandria groaned as she took in the sight of her son, who was now angrily yelling at Arthur to stop laughing, while Allistor looked like he wished he was anywhere else but sitting here, being associated with his embarrassing family. Standing and motioning for Seamus to do the same, she took in his soaked attire with a truly beleaguered expression. Luckily, she had bought some new clothes for the boys before they stopped to eat- the multiple bags on the floor were testament to that.

"Come on, we need to get you out of your wet clothes." she told Seamus, frowning. "I keep telling you not to mess with your food like that!"

"Sorry!" Seamus whined, holding his sopping T-shirt away from him as if it might bite.

Alexandria groaned dabbed a bit at the table with one of the spare napkins, managing to get rid of most of the stains, before she leant over and picked up her daughter, turning to her oldest son. He had scooted his chair back, as if the water would melt him.

"Allistor, could you watch Arthur for a minute while I get Seamus sorted?"

A groan.

"_Allistor._"

"Ach, fine!"

Nodding, Alexandria vanished, heading towards the toilets with a complaining, ginger boy tagging along behind her as she carried the baby. Allistor grumbled under his breath, turning back to face the archway where shoppers of all shapes and sizes milled back and forth. As usual, thanks to his status as the eldest, he was saddled with watching his brother. The redheaded youth barely acknowledged the small blonde beside him, who was dipping a finger into the spilled sugar granules on the faux-marble surface of the table, then licking the tip of his index finger. Dip and lick, dip and lick, dip and lick. But although he was concentrating on this repetitive task, Arthur's mind continued to return to the fish-tank he had spied at the start of their trip. He hadn't gotten a close enough look, last time...

Allistor, paying no heed to his brother (he should really have told him not to lick sugar off the table, but it was keeping him quiet and that was all Allistor cared about), blushed faintly as he observed a group of girls walking by, hair swinging, one or two of them carrying either a coffee or Frappuccino in their hands. They were all talking, their voices blending together in a harmonious cacophony of speech, punctuated by giggling. As he was getting older and wedging a foot into the threshold of puberty, it had recently occurred to Allistor that girls always seemed to be everywhere, often in groups. He wasn't sure why he kept noticing gaggles of them, but it made him both uneasy and, paradoxically, filled with an urge to show off. His mother kept telling him it was perfectly normal, but it was an odd sensation.

As the girls passed, and the view grew significantly less interesting, Allistor idly glanced to his left and then did a double-take.

Arthur was not there.

Allistor ducked his head to look under the table, but saw no sign of his brother. Swearing, he straightened up, forest green eyes scanning the bustling crowd and nearby shop windows for him- little kids always got distracted by shiny or colorful things. But neither yielded the desired results- it would be easy for a small, skinny kid like Arthur to slip between the gaps of legs and bodies, out of sight.

"Arthur!"

Stumbling away from the table, Allistor looked around frantically, unable to spot the scruffy blonde head anywhere. He was going to kill him!

If he found him, that is.

* * *

Arthur grinned to himself, skittering across the slick flooring of the shopping center, his hurried footprints slightly teetering and unsteady, as if he was trying to run on ice. He was nearly at the fish tank, he was sure of it! He was proud of himself for getting this far- his brothers were always teasing him for falling behind whenever he went anywhere, but that was just because Arthur liked to look around and take in his surroundings. And his brother's had longer legs than him, so that was a factor.

Licking his lips, Arthur paused at a fork in his path, looking from left to right, prominent eyebrows rising as he pondered which way to go. He had not even noticed where he had been doing after seeing the fish, so this was an interesting dilemma. As he walked, the blonde child was aware people were looking at him, expressions curious to see a young boy wondering around on his own. Arthur tried to ignore it, but a feeling of unease made him shift from one foot to the other, his trainers making a faint creaking noise.

"Are you alright?"

Arthur jumped to see a somewhat chubby woman leaning down to look at him. She had a friendly-enough looking face, but Arthur had been constantly warned by his mother, assorted family members and school about Stranger Danger, and so he took a nervous step back from her.

"Y-yeah..." he said, trying to look casual.

"Sweetie, where's your Mummy?"

Arthur was insulted. He had not called his mother 'Mummy' in quite some time.

"She's...in..." Arthur said, huffily, large green eyes scanning the shops behind the woman, trying to think of a convincing one she might conceivably be in. He eventually just pointed randomly. "That one!"

The woman looked over her shoulder to see, with some shock, the boy had been pointing at an underwear shop, stockings, garters and rather interesting bra-and-pants sets on display on various mannequins. She glanced back to ask if he was _sure_ his mother was shopping there, but the boy had run off while she had her back turned.

Arthur panted as he ran, after having picked a random direction and started moving. He didn't like strangers asking him nosy questions at the best of times, but when he was alone, it seemed ten times worse. He skidded to an ungainly halt as a very tall, punky-looking man strode past him, piercings gleaming in the bright sunlight streaming down from the mall's glass ceiling. He even had tattoos running up and down his arms, one of them bearing the image of a skull with a nasty-looking snake spilling out of the mouth. Normally this would have fascinated Arthur, but at the moment it just spooked him further. He darted away to avoid the man, then spun around.

The fish tank!

Sprinting awkwardly, Arthur halted in front of it, momentarily entranced by the glittering fish inside. A few moments passed with the boy merely gazing as if hypnotized at the creatures, but even with changing lights, staring at fish is only interesting for so long. Spotting the angel fish from before, Arthur made a sound of surprise, looking around with his mouth open, but his happy expression faded when he remembered he was alone and had nobody to share his discovery with.

His face downcast, Arthur looked at the angelfish again, but it darted away soon enough. People brushed past Arthur as they came and entered the shop- with him standing to one side rather than blocking the way, he was less noticeable to the general public.

Remembering that he had not told Allistor where he was going, as he knew that Allistor would have had something to say about that, Arthur bit his lip. Did Allistor know he was gone or was he still at the cafe now, oblivious? What if nobody noticed he was not there and left without him? What did they do with children on their own?

Arthur looked down the archway where he had come, but he could not see beyond a set of escalators and he couldn't remember which way he had chosen at the fork to bring him to the fish- he had been too busy trying to get away from the woman to think of it, and the shops all sort of looked the same to him...

Arthur's eyes welled up and his body quivered faintly, the realization sinking in and filling him with dread.

He was completely lost.

* * *

As he darted back and forth between confused-looking shoppers, Allistor was surprised to feel a lump in his throat. Arthur was small and skinny- how easy would it be for someone- anyone- to simply walk up to the unsuspecting child and snatch him, one hand over his mouth to muffle his screams? Arthur was a feisty kid (definitely a Kirkland), but a full-grown adult...

By now, panic had settled in on the redhead, who was now running through the crowd, shouting Arthur's name, the desperation to find his brother growing stronger, like milk souring. He no longer cared about getting scolded by his mother or looking like a complete idiot in front of strangers- he had to find his little brother.

_Think, lad!_ He told himself, rapping the crown of his head with his knuckles, as if trying to knock on wood. _ Where would he go? What would a kid find exciting enough to go looking for?_

The realization fell on him like a bolt of lightning. The fish tank! Of course! Arthur had been babbling being seeing fish when they had first begun shopping, but nobody had paid him any mind when he tried to call their attention to the glowing tank.

Now legging it at full-tilt, with a firm destination in mind, Allistor felt his heart pounding hard in his chest as his mind retained its niggling fear- what if Arthur was not there?

So the redhead nearly cried with relief when he saw a familiar figure, hunched down next to a plant and bawling his eyes out, tears staining his bright green T-shirt.

"Arthur!"

The blonde boy barely even had time to raise his head at the familiar accent, before a pair of arms wrapped around him and all but crushed him into his big brother's chest, so Arthur's view was completely obstructed by blue fabric.

"Ya bloody idiot!" Allistor scolded immediately- he had been so worked up, imagining Arthur being kidnapped that he didn't even have a lecture prepared.

But, his anger towards his baby brother quickly faded as Arthur trembled and sobbed into his shirt, clinging on as if for dear life. It occurred to the older boy that Arthur must have been scared, to go looking for something and suddenly finding yourself separated from your family, in a busy place filled with strangers, with no sense of how to get back or if anybody is even looking for you.

So with this in mind, Allistor picked up his brother with ease and began talking to him softly, the way he used to when Arthur was very small. It was one of the few things that calmed him down.

"Ssh, ssh...yer okay."

"I jus' wanted to see the _fish_!" cried Arthur, although already with his brother holding and gently rubbing his back, his sobs were beginning to die down, replaced by a few squeaky hiccups.

"Ye cannae go running' off like tha'." Allistor said, shaking his head, but he didn't really have the heart to tell him off.

After all, seeing Arthur hunched down like that, crying as if there was no hope in the world, as though he genuinely thought he was lost forever...well, it would tug on anyone's heartstrings and Allistor had a soft spot for his kid siblings, even if he'd deny it until he went blue.

"C'mon," he said, jiggling Arthur a bit, trying to get him to smile. "Let's get back before Mum does, aye?"

Arthur swallowed, rubbing at his face with his fingertips, as his cheeks felt hot and stiff from crying, and nodded. He was rather subdued, both from the distance he had walked to find the fish in the first place, and then the shock and stress of being lost, had really taken it out of him. To Arthur's surprise, Allistor did not put him down, but instead merely secured his grip and began walking back to the cafe. It was as if he sensed that his little brother needed to feel safe, and although usually Allistor alternated between teasing and ignoring his siblings, Arthur knew nothing bad would happen to him now, not with his big brother around.

"'Ey," Allistor said, snapping Arthur out of his reverie. He looked up at his brother, who was bearing his usual cheeky grin. "How 'bout we get some ice-cream?"

"Really?!" gasped Arthur.

"Really."

"Yeah!" Arthur grinned, spontaneously hugging Allistor around the neck.

Pretending to choke, Allistor set Arthur back on his feet, and now they were back at the cafe, they wondered over to a nearby stand, and though Allistor only had enough change for one cone, Arthur didn't seem to mind.

"Sorry I ran off, "He mumbled, leaning into his brother and taking a lick of ice-cream (they each chose a side of it to lick).

Allistor chuckled.

"Ahm sorry too," he murmured, glancing at Arthur with a slight smirk and lightly bopping him on the nose. Arthur peered up at his brother, puzzled.

"Jus' no tellin' Mum, right?"

Arthur giggled and nodded.

"Right!"

Allistor ruffled Arthur's hair , knowing that this would be something they would both look back on in a few years and laugh about. As he glanced up to see the rest of the family making their way back towards them, Allistor glance at a now contented Arthur with a slight smile.

Yeah, at the end of the day, both of them could conclude that it really wasn't so bad, having a brother around.

* * *

For the record, they love having their sister there, too. But there are too many stories where Scotland bullies England/Ireland, and I find it really annoying. Also, I think Britannia would probably see the funny side of the story, since Arthur was found and unhurt, I feel like she tends to get a bad portrayal in the fandom, especially when it comes to how she treats her kids, so I wanted to do a fluffy story on the family.

Thanks for reading!


End file.
